


The Tooth Whisperer

by blessende



Series: Searching for Levi [5]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Childhood Memories, M/M, Teenage Dorks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2019-04-07 23:11:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14091768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blessende/pseuds/blessende
Summary: A sixteen-year-old learns to deal with the tough questions in life. Of course, with a little help. Set in the Searching for Levi universe. Year 2006.





	The Tooth Whisperer

 

 

 

The Tooth Whisperer

 

 

2006

 

 

_This one's for the lonely child_

_Broken-hearted, running wild_

_This was written for the one to blame_

_Ones who believe they are the cause of chaos in everything_

_\- Satellite Call, Sarah Bareilles_

 

 

The house was quiet. Then again, it had always been dreadfully quiet in the last six years. But lately… just lately, the silence was becoming a heavy burden on teenage shoulders. Because while school taught you how to deal with peer pressure and bullies, while the classroom paved the way for education and a career, while the red bricked building with its lockers and long corridors taught you not to smoke weed, drive under influence or indulge in unprotected sex, school didn't teach you the most important thing in life. And that was how to fix a broken home. Six years ago, when his father had walked away, Eren Jaeger had vowed to protect what was left of his family, to protect this fragile, glued together paper home of his. But the harsh reality of life was this: not all vows could be fulfilled, not all promises could be kept. And here he was, watching that very same home crumble between his fingers. Like a sand castle in ruins, washed away by the sea.

His mother Carla was seated at the dining table, staring into thin space. There was a vacant expression in her features. Her apron was faded grey, its hem stained with the sauce, stew and rose-tinted memories of yesterday. Carla Jaeger had seen the prime of her life flash by, and she had nothing to prove it. Except for the bags under her eyes. Her eye liner was smudged from the tears she denied crying… but Eren knew. He knew because he wasn't that dense. He knew because there were still remnants of the man lying around the house, like souvenirs from a distant place. His mother held on to the baubles and trinkets while the sixteen-year-old abhorred the very sight of them. Eren knew, because his mother slept very little during the nights. He could always hear her pacing in her room, looking forlornly at a photograph on the dresser. And even on the rare nights that Carla Jaeger slept, they were but fleeting moments of deception.

School didn't teach you one other thing. That there were some problems in life, which didn't have an easy fix.

If you were _truly_ unlucky, they had no fix at all.

And that was the harsh reality of life.

The boy dug his spoon into the cereal floating in the milk. It looked at him half-heartedly, and Eren realised that the feeling was mutual. He took a lazy spoonful and munched on the Cheerios. It was at this moment when he felt it. The feeling that his lower jaw had caved, as if someone had swung a jackhammer into his head. The sixteen-year-old flinched as a mind numbing pain ran through his entire skull, numbing every nerve and blood vessel in his jawline. He stifled the contortion of his face with a hand. But Carla Jaeger, like any mother, caught the jarring movement.

'What's wrong, Eren?' his mother asked from across the table, eyes going frightful. 'Are you… hurt?'

'N-Nothing,' he forced a lie.

'But you look like you're in pain.'

'It's okay, mom. I just… bit my tongue. Don't worry,' he pushed away the bowl of cereal and grabbing hold of his satchel bag, left for school in haste.

Carla stared after him. And before he could leave through the back door, she called for him.

'Eren, wait... Eren!' she said, and pointed to the cereal on the table. Those soggy cheerios of his. 'What about breakfast?'

The boy forced a smile. 'I’ll grab something at school,' he said, hoping she wouldn't see him struggling with speech.

He managed to wave a clumsy goodbye to her.

Carla watched the teenager disappear, the door clicking shut. She opened her mouth to call his name again, but the boy was already gone, out of earshot.

 

 

There were three valuable lessons that Eren  learnt in the last one year.

  1. Never tumble out of another man's bathtub. (Or threaten him with a razor blade. Not exactly a great way of saying Hello! Greetings from Earth. We come in peace.)
  2. He was not as invincible as he liked to believe.
  3. And finally, that the universe was astonishingly big... and his blue green world quite small.



 

 

There were not many things Eren Jaeger was afraid of in his life. Protecting his home from a Titan invader? Ha. Piece of cake. A foul mouthed quasi Napolean? Not as intimidating as he'd initially thought. Surviving Keith Shadis' constant barrage of demoralising insults? Been there, done that. But standing before the revolving doors of _The Dentist_ , he had a sickly notion that here, at last— was an adversary that presented a unique challenge.

Eren looked despairingly at Armin.

'Know what? I think I feel good already,' alleged Eren and turned, doing a one-eighty. He tried vainly to slip away.

But his blond best friend caught the lapel to his jacket and yanked him back. Eren cringed under Armin's glare. The blond gave Eren a grave look, frowning at him.

'Really? You're not hurting at all?' Armin asked, his squeaky voice laced with suspicion.

'Uh huh,' Eren said, feigning a small smile.

His best friend reached out to grab hold of Eren's jaw, holding it still. Don’t let the squeaky voice fool you. The kid could land a solid punch when he wanted to. Like now, for example. 'So, this wouldn't hurt at all, would it?' challenged Armin, tapping his knuckles under Eren's jawline.

Eren felt a tremor erupt deep in his mouth. It reverberated to the very depths of his soul, shaking every fibre of his being. Eren jolted upright and clutching his mouth, he let out a howl of pain.

'Owwwww! What didja do that for?' Eren bellowed, clasping his hand around his face.

Groaning, he doubled over and waited for the pain to subside.

Eren looked up at Armin, face red and furious. 'What the hell... did you DO. THAT . FOR?'

Armin sighed. 'You can't even speak properly, Eren. Don't you dare run away now. You might fool Mrs Jaeger but not me!'

The shorter boy stuffed one arm into the pocket of his jeans and with the other, he dragged Eren into the dentist's. _How old are you really?_ Armin reprimanded his best friend, shoving Eren through the revolving glass doors. _Shame on you. I've never heard of a high schooler afraid of going to the dentist’s._

Making sure that Eren was seated in the lounge and had no plans to run away again, the blond went to check on the appointment roster. Yes, because Armin Arlert prided himself in being humanity's greatest best friend. Which he was... _Most_ of the time.

Rendered thus helpless and guilty, Eren sat on the couch dolefully, staring up at the posters on the wall. He scowled at them. It was all a conspiracy to hoodwink the common public, all a mass propaganda into making them think that dentists were not the true monsters of the world. He remembered Connie telling a story in middle school of how his orthodontist had pulled Connie's incisor out with his bare hands. JUST BARE HANDS! Connie would narrate, using his chubby hands to demonstrate the gruesome tale. Eren cast a glum look at the posters.

He made a face at 'The Correct Way to Floss Your Teeth' and then, frowned at 'How to Get That Perfect Smile'. He looked to his right, and there was a dental model of perfect thirty-two sitting on the coffee table. Eren Jaeger, aged sixteen, caught hold of his jaw and wondered what the hell was even wrong with his own mouth. His milk teeth had fallen off when they were supposed to. And he had the perfect thirty-two anyone could ask for.

That’s when he remembered an incident from last year.

No.

He was wrong.

Not thirty-two.

He was missing one.

He thrust a finger into his mouth and groped around for the missing molar. And there it was, on the left rear. A missing space. He nudged it a little and a sharp shooting pain ran the length of his jaw again.

Eren's eyes widened, and he waited for the tremors to subside.

Shit, no way.

Armin returned and flopped down on the couch beside him. The blond began browsing through the magazine brochures.

Eren blinked a few times, wondering if it was prudent to tell his best friend the truth.

No, Armin would call him crazy. How was he supposed to make anyone believe that he'd suffered through a trial? That he'd faced a full court in a land far, far away? Who the heck would believe him? Sometimes, Eren wondered if he'd built up the world inside his head, a product of teenage angst and make believe. And then, there were other times when he was reminded brutally that Titan did exist. The pain in his mouth was one such constant reminder.

'The doc will call for you any moment now,' the blond remarked, interrupting his soliloquy.

Eren nodded glumly.

'I really … gotta do this?' he asked, giving Armin his best impression of a wounded puppy.

Armin avoided his gaze.

'Yes. I am going to sit here and make sure you get your examination done, Eren. And I'm not gonna fall for that doe eyed look of yours. Save it for a stranger.'

Eren's spirit sank, and he slumped back against the couch dejectedly.

The door to the doctor's opened and a woman in a white coat stuck her head out. She looked at her clipboard and read the name out.

'Eren Jaeger, is it?'

'Yes, ma'am,' said Eren, raising a hand in attendance. He wished he hadn't. Because answering to his stupid name had made his tongue slide on that sensitive spot of his gums, and the wave of terror coursed through his face again.

'Ow!' he yelped, grabbing his mouth.

The dentist glimpsed at him in concern.

'That bad, huh?' she asked, leading him into her office.

The teenager gave the lady the once over. She had hazel hair pulled into a neat bun, wore gold hoops on her pierced ears, and Eren noted that there was a wedding ring on one of her fingers. There was a confidence that just oozed from her, reminding him how different she was to his mother. Under the white coat, the dentist wore a simple plaid shirt and khakis. The woman in her late thirties smiled chivalrously at him.

'Let me have a look at you. I'm Dr Kirstein by the way.'

Eren stared at her and then, doing a head turn akin to The Exorcist, Eren Jaeger gave a narrow glance towards Armin.

There was a silent exchange of words.

'Kirstein?' mouthed Eren to his best friend.

'It can't be,' Armin mimed back. 'Don't worry. It must be a coincidence. The world isn't _that_ small… right?'

The doctor grew restless and tapped her clipboard, drawing Eren's attention. 'Come on, young man. Inside! We don't have all day. I have six other appointments in my morning shift, you know.'

Eren gave one last woeful look towards Armin before following the woman into Mount Doom.

 

 

 

The world was _indeed_ small. To be frank, the world was a cramped shithole of all the people that he didn't want to share his breathing space with. Chief among them was a boy with shifty brown eyes, a long face and the countenance of His Royal Highness. As if the world owed its entire existence to him. Because who else would be seated on the polished counter of the dentist's... except for that very same boy. Jean Kirstein.

'That's my son Jean,' said the dentist with a wide smile. 'Jean, this is Eren Jaeger.'

Eren looked up and cast an unforgiving glare at the false ceiling. He scorned at the invisible gods above.

'Why?' he demanded of them.

_Seriously, why do you hate me so much?_

Jean raised a hand in mock greeting. He was still in his high school uniform, the maroon blazer and the clean cut white shirt. 'Nice to meet you, Jaeger,' the taller boy said to Eren, sneering at him.

Dr. Kirstein considered her son for a moment. 'You two... know each other?'

'Nope,' Jean cut quickly.

Eren rolled his eyes at the blatant lie and the ashbrown teenager blew him a raspberry when his mother wasn't looking.

This was going to be a long day, Eren decided.

And he already hated it.

 

 

 

 

Dr Kirstein had soul-unravelling chocolate brown eyes. She hovered over Eren, examining his mouth in detail, and at this close proximity, it was hard to miss those magnified eyes of hers. Eren was also painfully aware of the other pair of eyes in the room boring into his head.

'Looks like a pulp infection,' remarked the dentist behind her surgical mask. She prodded the spot of the missing molar. 'Looks like you've still got some tooth left in there. Does it hurt?' she asked, tapping her probe against his mouth.

Eren nodded with a wince.

The dentist sighed. She drew back and peeled away her gloves and her mask.

She gave Eren a curious glance, and the sixteen-year-old realised who exactly Jean had inherited his eyes from. Of course, the brown in her eyes was more pronounced and warmer than the colt's.

'Let me guess… You got into a fight?' she cast a reproving glance at him. 'Why do kids your age brawl so much? Do you know how many boys walk in here with chipped teeth and bleeding gums every day? Dozens! I don't mean to brag about my own son, but Jean never picks a fight with anybody. He’s a darling, a straight A student and a kind soul at heart, believe me, ' she prattled, pausing to give her son a look of pride.

Eren craned his neck and shot Jean a look of utter disbelief.

_Darling?_

But the other boy was staring at the ceiling, whistling like an innocent little choir boy.

 _Never picks a fight with anybody?_  

Eren almost spat out in disgust.

Oh, if only the lady knew. Eren wanted to kick up a riot and tattle on all the war games he had to play with Jean since they were ten. But the dentist was already reaching for her syringe.

Eren went pale, eyes widening at the sight of the needle.

The doctor noticed the fear in his wide eyes.

She gave him a reassuring smile. 'Don't worry. It's local anesthesia. We need to pull out the remnants of the tooth and clear the pulp.'

'Uh huh? Will… it hurt?' Eren asked while ignoring Jean's snort from the counter.

Dr Kirstein shook her head. 'You won’t feel a thing.'

'Uh huh…?'

The dentist gave him a ginger smile.

'Trust me. Can I go ahead, Mr Jaeger?'

Eren didn't know if he could trust anybody whose last name was Kirstein. But he gave her the thumbs up anyway.

 

 

 

 

There was something truly vulnerable about lying prostrate on a dentist chair with clamps holding your mouth in place and a lingering numbness that didn't even let you scream to your best friend for help. Where the hell was Armin when you needed him? Why the hell had he let Armin talk him into doing this?

As if his life couldn't get any worse, the intercom buzzed.

'Dr Kirstein! DR. KIRSTEIN! Patient in room three needs a second opinion,' the receptionist informed.

'One moment,' the doctor mumbled, her eyebrows scrunched up in concentration. 'I'm almost there,' she muttered under her breath. Eren felt a dull knock against his lower jaw. She tugged hard and pulled out something white and bloody.

'Got it!' she said as if she'd just scored a double jump shot on the basketball court.

She leaned back, looking triumphant and began taking her gloves off. She placed the bloody half tooth on a metal tray and washed out the residue. 'Now, you stay there for ten minutes. I'll just go check on my other patient. Jean will help you clean up.'

Neither Jean nor Eren were happy about that last part.

Jean launched into protests. 

'Gross! I don't want to clean up that twerp's mouth,' complained Jean. 'Besides mom, you're gonna lose your license if you keep asking me to do all the dirty work,' the teenager grumbled.

Jean's mother smiled at him.

'I’m grooming you.'

The boy rolled his eyes.

'I'm not gonna become a doctor, haven't we discussed this already?'

Dr. Kirstein aka The Dentist aka Jean's mom placed a comforting hand on Eren's forehead. 'He's a talker, but he'll take good care of you. I have put in a veneer replacement for now. You'll be fine in two days.'

Eren wasn't even worried about his molar anymore. He grabbed at her hand and shook his head vehemently.

'Pish! Naw him! Dun lev me with 'im!'

Dr Kirstein looked at him quizzically, trying to decipher the meaning behind his drugged words.

'What's he saying?' she said, turning to her son for help.

Jean strode over suavely. He gave Eren an apathetic look and hooking an arm around the patient chair, he turned to his mother and beamed at her.

'Oh, don't worry, mom. He's in safe hands.'

 

 

 

 

Safe hands, his ass, Eren thought as Jean inserted the flushpipe and nozzle into Eren's mouth. His arch enemy turned on the faucet and sneered at him.

'Never thought I'd see the day when I'd have to flush your potty mouth. I guess this is what they call… oh, what was that word again… Started with a K… Right,' Jean said, snapping his fingers. ' _Karma_! That's it!'

Eren glared at him. Oh, horseface was so gonna get it. As soon as Eren was unstrapped from the chair, and he had the faculty of his mouth again, the brunet plotted on all the ways he could arrange for payback.

Jean understood his predicament and let out a bark of laughter. The boy flicked Eren's forehead, knowing how helpless Eren was.

'This is a first. I get to call you whatever I want and know what? You can't do a single thing about it! Let's go alphabetically since we have all the time in the world. A for assmonkey. B for birdbrain. C for—'

Eren gagged under the barrage of insults since Jean forgot to turn the flushpipe on... which was no accident. The patient didn't have his mouth, but he did have his limbs. So Eren raised a hand and flipped his middle finger at the ashbrown.

Jean snorted. 'Oh, nasty! And what's with that constipated look? Oh wait, you can't _talk_ , can you? Can't call me 'horseface' either.'

Eren fumed in silence.

Jean turned off the faucet and pulled away the nozzle.

'Spit,' he told the brunet, pointing to the basin.

Eren held his head high. He looked at Jean menacingly and puckered up, his numb mouth getting ready to eject until Jean realised just what he was about to do. The ashbrown shook his head in warning.

'Don't you dare spit on me, douchebag! In the basin! Spit in the fucking basin!'

Eren looked disappointed but followed through. He bent over the basin and ejected the drool and metallic taste in his mouth.

Jean held out a tissue, watching the brunet suspiciously.

Eren reached for the tissue.

Jean smirked and pulled it away before his fingers could grab it.

'Heh. Aren't you gonna say 'thank you'?' the taller boy taunted.

Eren ground his teeth.

'Thwan yeh.'

Jean grinned.

'That sounded like Vietnamese,' Jean chided but handed him the tissue.

Eren frowned, well, he attempted to frown with that dopey mouth of his. He rubbed his lips against the tissue and crumpling it into a ball, he tossed it at Jean's face.

'Scan't belieb yer the dento son.'

'Huh?' Jean asked, catching the offending ball of paper in the nick of time.

'Still can't belieb yer her son!' Eren reiterated with difficulty, pointing between the closed door and the taller boy.

Jean gave him a narrow look.

'You think I got dropped by a stork?'

'Thot yeh get drepped by a hoarse.'

Jean rolled his hazel eyes.

'As if your parents _willed_ you into existence. Face it, Jaeger. Everyone has a mom and a dad. Some you can be proud of and some... you can't.'

In response, Eren said nothing and balled his hands into fists. 

'Yehh.'

Jean smirked and pointed a finger to Eren's mouth.

'So, who kicked the shit out of you?'

Eren sent a death glare towards him.

'Shuddup, hoseface. Nun of yer buzness.'

Jean snickered.

'Hoseface, huh? Well, that's new.'

 

 

 

'So, how did it go? Went smooth right?' Armin quipped as soon as Eren emerged out of the dentist's room.

The brunet held a pack of ice against his left cheek and mustered the dirtiest look he could gather.

'Fek yeh,' Eren replied, glaring at his blond best friend. 'Met Jaen Effin Kernt inside.'

Armin stared at him.

'You met J. F. K inside? The dead President John F Kennedy?'

Eren gave the boy an exasperated glance and stormed over to the reception.

When they’d paid their dues and were about to leave the dentist's, Eren felt a familiar fluidity return to his lower face. He flexed his jaw and realised that the effects of the anaesthesia were finally leaving him. Eren thanked the gods above. Yes, he had been granted the powers of speech again. And about time too!

'Armin! Hold on!' he said, feeling exuberant already.

'Ok but Eren, what are you doing—'

Armin barely got the words out of his mouth when he saw the brunet turn around and disappear through the revolving doors.

Eren made for the dentist's operation theatre.

And sure enough, his nemesis was still sitting on the counter.

'Hey _Secretariat_ ,' he called, testing his newly regained voice.

Jean looked up, not amused by Eren's reappearance.

'Look who learned to talk again? And wow, big word for a small guy,' Jean said, glowering back at him. 'You've got something to say?'

'Yeah. Just one thing.'

'And what's that?'

Eren smirked. He had thought of a great comeback line alright.

'You've got a hot mom. Too bad you didn't get the looks from her.'

The door at the other end of the room shut audibly. Eren turned and paled when he found himself looking at Dr Kirstein. She glanced between the two teenagers in surprise before turning her attention to Eren, indulging him with a smile.

'Why, thank you, Mr Jaeger. Meet me in seven years and maybe we can hit it off, huh?'

'Mom!' Jean reproached her, pressing a hand over his face in second hand embarrassment.

He wasn't the only one. Eren excused himself politely, having gone red himself.

 

 

 

Like Jean's mother had promised, Eren forgot all about that renegade tooth. Eren took it home, wrapped it up in a tissue and locked it inside his desk. He didn't remember it until one afternoon spent on a distant planet in a galaxy light years away. He was sitting on the meadow of an observation point, still decked in his training corp uniform. Since he was skipping drill practice again, Sergeant Keith Shadis was bound to be furious when he found his class of thirty corps sans one. Sgt. Keith Shadis was going to be particularly miffed when he realised that it was Eren Jaeger who was missing.

Here on the high meadow of the observatory, Eren wasn't alone. There was a man sitting three feet away, looking over the city just like he was. Except this shorter man did not seem enthused or charmed by the skyscraper city. Suited in his black riot control uniform, geared up in shin guards, elbow protector, the zirconium blades and electric taser on his belt-- Rivaille Levi looked more intimidating than usual. His helmet lay in his lap, and he was scrubbing it furiously. Some hoodlum had sprayed graffiti paint all over the hood. Levi had his handkerchief out and was rubbing at the stain meticulously.

'Someone got you good, huh, Lieutenant?' teased Eren.

Levi paused his cleaning to glare at the boy.

'Don't worry, kiddo. I got him good in return. There isn’t a dearth of idiots like you, huh?’

Eren bit back a grin.

'Of course,' he said and turned back to the plume of smoke rising from the bubble city.

'So, the riots are under control now?'

'No, still going on,' Levi said indifferently.

Eren snapped his head in his superior's direction.

'Whoa, whoa. If the riots are still underway, what the hell are you doing here?'

Levi gave the younger a shrug.

'What do you think I am doing, shithead? Taking a break.'

Eren stared at the raven-haired man in disbelief. 'What do you mean you're taking a break? You're supposed to be defending the city! Keeping the peace, helping people, saving lives, any of that ring a bell?'

Levi snorted at Eren's textbook definition of  what being a hero meant.

'Being a hero was never in my job description,' Levi remarked.

'B-But, you're a PeaceCorp!'

Levi gave his ward the stink eye.

'Let me guess. That's what they're teaching you these days? That's what you think being a PeaceCorp is all about?'

'It… isn't?' Eren asked quizzically.

There was a silence, and Levi turned to watch the city again.

'Listen up, Eren. And listen well. How will you bring peace to the world if it isn't inside you first?'

Eren sat quiet, startled by that thought-provoking question. He'd expected the little piece of insight from a zen book, but not from the foul mouth of his guardian. The contradictions never ceased.

Levi continued speaking, rubbing furiously at the stain on his helmet. 'Sometimes, Eren, it's important to remove yourself from a problem and look at it from a third perspective. You get me?'

Eren turned back to the trail of smoke.

'A third perspective...?'

Levi gave a small nod.

'Yes, trooper. Did you ever ask yourself what these people are fighting for?'

Eren shrugged.

'They're rebels right? Isn't fighting what they do?'

'Maybe... Maybe not. You never know who the enemy is. It could be machines. It could even be humans. But remember there are two sides to a war. Whose side do you think we should choose?'

'The… good guys side?' Eren attempted, breaking into a cheery laugh.

Levi almost smiled at his oblivious answer. 'If only it were that simple,' Levi said, getting up to his feet and walking over to Eren. The raven-haired man hovered before him, a mass of black against the afternoon hues of the Titan sky. 'Sometimes you won’t be able to tell the difference between good and bad. What do you do then? What do you do in a universe filled with chaos?' Levi asked and then, pointed to the smog covered sky above them, where there was a faint circle of light visible. 'See that sun over there, Eren? It wasn't always a dwarf star. It was a blazing ball of energy many years ago. But look at it now. It's dying. That's the cycle of life. You are borne from chaos, you mature and then you are consumed by the same chaos. Do you get me?'

'I... dunno?' Eren confessed, his head hurting from all the riddlespeak.

Eren watched in surprise as the Lieutenant sank on one knee and studied him. Eren gulped, resisting the urge to flinch when Levi caught his head between gloved hands. The man pressed a thumb against Eren's chin and with his index finger, prodded Eren to open his mouth.

'Wha-?'

'Open your mouth, chaos,' Levi urged. 'It's an order.'

Eren gave in to that strange request and opened his mouth, allowing Levi to peer inside. What Levi saw in there, Eren didn't know. The man's pokerface gave nothing away. The Lieutenant traced his thumb along Eren's jawline, eyebrows furrowed. The morose man leaned back after his investigation and gave a curt nod.

'As I thought. You got a replacement, huh?'

Eren closed his mouth shut, looking at the man in nothing short of amazement.

'How the hell did you know?'

'Sir,' Levi corrected.

'Fine. How the hell did you know, sir?'

'Intuition,' Levi admitted with a careless shrug. He got up to his feet and after stretching his sore muscles, Levi began moving to the TJ parked atop the meadow. He paused briefly to pick up his helmet.

Eren stared after him.

'Wait, hold on. You didn't tell me the answer. What does someone do in a universe filled with chaos?'

Levi turned to look at him. The figure in the riot control uniform was tiny against the city's landscape, but in Eren's eyes, he could see the man's wings soaring high, reaching higher than even the tallest skyscrapers of Trost.

'Chaos and order always go together, trooper,' Levi replied. 'What you should do is find the one thing that keeps you stable even in a storm. Discover the one thing that helps you deal with all the shit the universe throws at you. That’s the secret.'

Eren watched as the grey eyed man returned a curt nod and climbed onto the TJ, his lithe figure disappearing into its cockpit in one fluid motion.

As the engine rumbled to life, the sixteen-year-old mused over the words his guardian left behind.

 

_Find the one thing that keeps me stable and calm?_

 

_The order to my chaos?_

 

Eren let slip a bittersweet smile.

 

_But I've already found you, Levi._

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

**Author's Note:**

> For SinGrin. :)


End file.
